The Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday sentenced Abdulrahman Bello to death by hanging for the murder of 24-year-old Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education.
Delivering judgment after four months of trial, Justice Hannah Olushola Ajayi found Bello guilty of the brutal killing, which the court heard was carried out for alleged money rituals.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted four other defendants — Ahmed Abdulwasiu (41), Suleiman Muyideen (28), Jamiu Uthman (29), and Abdulrahmon Jamiu (31) — citing insufficient evidence linking them to the crime.
Bello had earlier confessed to the murder, stating he lured Lawal, whom he met on Facebook, to his residence in the Offa Garage area of Ilorin on February 13, 2025, under the pretense of a visit. The victim had reportedly left a naming ceremony to meet him.
According to his confession, after engaging in sexual intercourse with Lawal, he strangled her and dismembered her body. In another statement, Bello claimed she died from an asthma attack, and that panic over how to dispose of the body led to the dismemberment.
Bello, who claimed to be an Islamic cleric, admitted to committing the act alone in an attempt to obtain human parts for ritual purposes.
He expressed regret during the trial, stating he would not have killed her if he had known another way to obtain the required “ingredient.”
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The case, which drew public outrage, ended with the court’s firm stance on justice.
